The path to writing and approval of the United States Constitution was
             complex and very difficult. A draft document emerged in 1787, but only
             after intense debate and six years of experience with an earlier federal
             union. Even today, the Constitution is continually being interpreted and
             brought to courts including the U.S. Supreme Court for decisions. Since the
             Constitution calls itself the "supreme law of the land," when laws passed
             by state legislatures or by the U.S. Congress are determined to conflict
             with the federal Constitution, these laws have no force. Supreme Court
             decisions over the country's history have increasingly defined this
             doctrine of constitutional supremacy.
             The Constitution is divided into the Preamble, Articles I through IV
             and the Bill of Rights. The Preamble and Bill of Rights clearly spell out
             the constitutional convention's national ideals. Although just one
             sentence, the Preamble introduces the document and establishes its need for
             the country: To build a better Union with a division of power and the
             agreement between federal and state's rights; to establish justice and
             assure that all men are created equal; to ensure domestic tranquility so
             the country can grow and continually improve itself by protecting the
             states against invasion; to provide for the common defense by giving the
             executive and legislative branches the authority to act in impending war;
             to promote the general welfare by making the country economically and
             socially sound; to secure the blessings of liberty to all people by
             protecting the rights of all people now and forever.
             The Bill of Rights or the first ten amendments, however, is where the
             Constitution's signers clearly state their ideals. The creation of the
             Bill of Rights took four years of intense debate to be agreed upon.
             Americans wanted strong assurances that the new government would not
             destroy their newly won freedoms of speech, press an...